League Leaders: Romo, Rivers Among NFL’s Top 5 QB Ratings

Thursday, September 26, 2013 6:17 AM CDT

By DallasCowboys.com Report

Each week, DallasCowboys.com will break out five key stats from the NFL’s list of league leaders. This week, it’ll be a showdown of two of the top five quarterbacks in the NFL, at least in terms of passer rating.

Cowboys:

Tony Romo ranks fifth in the NFL in quarterback rating with a 103.9, trailing Peyton Manning (134.7), Philip Rivers (116.2), Russell Wilson (109.6) and Aaron Rodgers (105.1). On Monday, Romo was the NFL’s leader in completion percentage at 72.2, but Manning surpassed him with a superb performance on Monday Night Football and is now in first at 73.0.

With his 175-yard game Sunday, DeMarco Murray now ranks fourth in the NFL in rushing with 286 yards. Also, Murray ranks second in the NFL in total yards from scrimmage with 402, trailing LeSean McCoy (514).

While kickoffs have been the most inconsistent part of Dan Bailey’s game in his early career, he ranks second in the NFL in touchbacks with 14, only behind Denver’s Matt Prater (17). Bailey is also second in scoring with 29 points, trailing only Prater (31).

The Cowboys rank 30th in the NFL in first-down plays by opponents. The defense is allowing 6.81 yards per first-down play. Fortunately for the Cowboys, this week’s opponent – San Diego – is last in the NFL at 7.81 yards a play.

The Cowboys are tied for sixth in the NFL in turnover margin at 3. The Cowboys have seven takeaways (three interceptions, four fumble recoveries) and have turned it over four times (one interception, three fumbles).

Philip Rivers ranks second in the NFL with a 116.2 quarterback rating. He’s third in the league with a 70.0 completion percentage and has a TD-interception ratio of 8-1.

The Chargers are 31st in total defense, allowing 470.7 yards per game. And it’s just as bad against the pass, where San Diego is yielding 340.7 yards a game. The opponents have been Houston, Philadelphia and Tennessee.

Running back Ryan Matthews is off to a slow start. The former first-round pick ranks 20th in the NFL with 164 yards on 45 attempts (3.6 yard average) with no touchdowns.

Wide receiver Eddie Royal leads the entire NFL in touchdowns with five. He only has 12 receptions, but is scoring nearly half of the time. Last year, Royal had 23 catches and only one touchdown.

Former Cowboys John Phillips plays in short-yardage situations but has yet to catch a pass. Sean Lissemore has one tackle for the Chargers as a rotating lineman.